GAME CONCEPT

Card Barrage is a head-to-head dexterity-based tower defense game. Players hone their dexterity skills and finesse at card tossing through attacking your opponent's castle. At the start of the game, players lay out a card to represent their castle and its surrounding wall cards. Each turn, players physically toss cards against the other player's castle and surrounding wall cards. Players score points when their barrage cards land on the other player's castle or wall cards. Wall cards can be damaged and destroyed through attacks. You can play solo, head-to-head or team vs team. Rules govern how you can toss cards to attack through the lob, Frisbee, or flip method.

GAME SETUP



1. CREATE TEAMS - For solo play, see the solo rules. A 2-player is a versus game. If playing with 4 or 6, divide players into two teams. If playing with 3 or 5 players, one player will play as an extra player. Card Barrage with 2-4 players can use 1 or 2 Tech Decks. Playing with 5 or 6 players requires 3 or 4 Tech Decks. Players/ teams either sit across from each other or in a circular arrangement.
2. SETUP CASTLES - Take out a wild card for each player. If there are more players than wild cards also use 1-value cards. Place a card face down horizontally in front of each player as their castle card.
3. PREPARE DECKS - Divide the cards evenly between teams. Shuffle. Each team has their own draw deck to the side of the play area. The discard will be next to it.
4. SETUP WALLS - Deal out wall cards. 2 players each use five wall cards. 3-4 players use four walls. 5-6 players use 3 wall cards. Each wall card is placed vertically 3" (7.5cm) in front of the player's castle. A player's walls should be separated apart from each other by one card length (3.75"/9.5 cm). The battlefield is 12" (30.5cm) between players/teams.
5. DRAW CARDS - Each player draws 4 cards from their respective draw decks.
6. FIRST PLAYER/TEAM - Randomly determine a first player/team. Give them a first player/team marker.

CARD BARRAGE GAME PLAY OVERVIEW




Each a player does the following:
DRAW A CARD - Draw a card. If a player has less than 3 cards in hand draw 2 instead. Reshuffle if necessary.
BUILD A WALL You may play a wall card from your hand into one empty location. That turn you may not attack.
UPGRADE A WALL - You may exchange one of your existing wall cards with a card in hand. When you upgrade a wall, you may reposition the upgraded wall to its original position in the fortification. You may still attack this turn.
ATTACK - If you did not build a wall, you may attack an enemy using either the lob, Frisbee or flip method.
CHECK FOR END OF GAME - A player who has scored 10 points or destroyed all their opponent's walls and then hits their opponent's castle triggers the end of the game. Play passes to the next player on the next team until everyone has had an equal number of turns. The team/ player with the highest score wins. If necessary, use the value and domains of scored cards as tie-breakers.

ATTACKING

CARD ATTACK - You can attack by the lob, Frisbee, or flip method. You toss a card from your castle at an opponent's wall and castle. To lob a card, you throw it in an arc. The Frisbee method throws a card like a Frisbee. The flip method swings and launches the card in a flip motion. For videos of these attacks, see my webpage or my YouTube channel.
ATTACK DETAILS Your attack card must cross your castle as if it was extended by 2 cards. The attack card must leave your hand by the end of your wall. If your attack card ends up underneath a wall or castle card it is discarded without scoring. If an attack card touches the table before it lands on top of an opponent’s card(s), it is discarded. If an attack card leaves the table, it is discarded. A wall card moved during an attack is not repositioned until it is upgraded or rebuilt. A castle card moved through a failed attack is repositioned back to its original position. A perfect hit is when an attack card covers all four of the value-domains of an opponent's wall card when it lands. A perfectly hit wall is scored and not replaced. If you hit a defending player's castle, they discard a card into the attacker's score pile.

ATTACKING - FRISBEE METHOD


In the Frisbee Method, the attack card is tossed from your hand like a Frisbee disc. The card spins horizontally. It rotates through the air about its center as it makes its way to your target spinning like a Frisbee would spin.



ATTACKING - FLIP METHOD

In the Flip Method, the attack card is flipped from your hand. Holding onto the top part of the card, the bottom part of the card is swung in a flipping motion. The card will turn end-over-end in the air as it moves towards your target. This is a little like a gymnast performing backflip. The bottom part of the card starts off closer to the table. The card flips in the air and turns upside down with the bottom part of the card become farther away from the table.

ATTACKING - LOB METHOD

In the Lob Method, the attack card is launched from your hand in an arc as it leaves your hand. Much like a person who launches themselves from a swing set. The person leaves the swing set in an arcing motion.

SCORING


SCORING During an attack, if your attack card lands on top of an opponent's wall card you score that card and add it to your score pile. Though difficult, It is possible that you can land on top of two wall cards, scoring both cards. You may use the game effect of every third scored card. There are no neutral cards in the game. If you hit a castle, your opponent must discard a card from their hand into your score pile.
AFTERMATH After scoring, the defending player must replace his destroyed wall immediately with a card of lower or equal value from their hand. If you cannot that wall space is empty. You do not replace a perfectly hit wall.


DOWNLOAD THE RULES

Card Barrage Full Rules: Card Barrage Rules Full
Card Barrage Compact Rules: Card Barrage Rules Compact

INTRODUCTION VIDEO

Watch a video on the introduction of Card Barrage. The introduction video describes the basic concepts, objectives and an introduction to the Tech Deck.

PLAY GUIDE VIDEO

Watch a play guide video for Card Barrage. The play guide video is an in depth video on how to setup the game, and all the steps involved in playing the game.


ENTRY ON BOARD GAME GEEK


You can read and explore the BoardGameGeek entry for Card Barrage.
PUBLICATION INFORMATION
· Published: January 15, 2023
· Format: Card Game
· Elements: 54 Cards
· Size: 3.75" x 2.8751" x .875"
ORDERING CARD BARRAGE
· To purchase the Tech Deck: Contact Me

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